Barely three weeks after the state was charged for having triggered the multiple grid failure and plunging more than half of India into darkness, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday claimed to have averted an abrupt failure of the northern grid.
"A stitch in time saves nine. And we have proved that by taking timely action to cut power supply to some districts in order to avert another failure of the northern grid," Principal Secretary (Energy) Anil Kumar Gupta told mediapersons in Lucknow.
He said, "We got into action as soon as the frequency of the Northern grid dropped around 10 am to 48.8, that was below the normal range of 49.7-50.2."
Attributing the drop in frequency to sudden shutting of three major power plants in Himachal Pradesh, he said, "The abrupt breakdown in Himachal led to an instant drop of about 3000 MW in the supply to the grid."
And with a view to clarifying that unlike July 30 and 31, when the state was accused of overdrawing from the grid, he added, "This time, we were drawing just about 588 MW that was far below our allocation."
The northern grid that covers as many as eight states -- Uttar Pradesh ,Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir besides the union territory of Chandigarh -- is the largest of the country's five power grids, run by the Power Grid Corporation, which operates more than 95,000 circuit km of transmission lines.
